West is the third track on Prince's 27th full-length album N.E.W.S.. As with the other tracks on the album, the track is largely improvised, and rather than carrying a traditional writer's credit, the track is credited as "directed by" Prince.

Basic tracking took place on 6 February 2003 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (the same day as North, East and South). Since each track on the album is exactly 14:00 long, it is possible that overdubs and edits may have also taken place later, but this is unclear.